VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #4324/01 2980405
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 250405Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0692

UNCLAS AMMAN 004324 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ELA, G/IWI, AND ECA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KWMN KPAO PHUM JO
SUBJECT: NOMINATION FROM EMBASSY AMMAN FOR THE 2008 SECRETARY'S 
AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE 
 
REF: (A) STATE 126072 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (U)  Embassy Amman is pleased to nominate Jordanian attorney 
Reem Abu Hassan for the Secretary of State's 2008 Award for 
International Women of Courage.  Ms. Abu Hassan has used her legal 
expertise to champion equal rights and legal protection for 
Jordanian and Arab women as well as  children, devoting special 
attention to honor crimes.  Through membership in local, regional, 
and international organizations, she strives to educate communities 
on the need for equal protection under the law, arguing, "It's about 
time that through laws, regulations and services that we [women] 
take our natural roles since we are half of society." 
 
¶2.  (U)  Ms. Hassan currently serves as Director of the Jordan 
branch of the Arab Center for the Development of the Rule of Law and 
Integrity, a regional non-profit corporation devoted to building 
Arab expertise in the area of judicial reform, civic participation, 
and freedom of expression.  She also serves as a consultant to the 
Jordanian Judicial Institute and is the Head of the Directorate for 
Human Rights and Family Affairs in Jordan's Ministry of Justice. 
Furthermore, she is a founding member of the Arab Women's Legal 
Network and President of the Jordanian Society for Protecting 
Victims of Family Violence.  She serves on the board of Partners for 
Democratic Change and headed the Working Group on Legal Issues of 
the Family Protection Project in Jordan from 2000-2003.  She was 
also the Coordinator for the Family Empowerment Program at the 
National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA). 
 
¶3.  (U)  A distinguished author, Ms. Abu Hassan drafted the Jordan 
country report on "Women's Rights in the Middle East and North 
Africa:  Citizenship and Justice," published by Freedom House in 
¶2005.  She also co-authored an article on honor crimes in Jordan, 
which appeared in the publication "Honour: Crimes, Paradigms and 
Violence against Women." 
 
¶4.  (U)  Following the November 2005 terror attacks on three hotels 
in Amman, Jordan, Ms. Abu Hassan reached out to fellow Jordanians 
and led efforts to establish a hotline to provide counseling 
services to victims of the attacks and other traumatized citizens. 
In addition to responding to an immediate need, she had a broader 
goal of providing humanitarian relief and support services, and thus 
helped establish the Humanitarian Support Network, consisting of 
various governmental and nongovernmental organizations.  She further 
developed and launched the "National Strategy to support Families 
and Victims in Crisis" and carries the mandate to oversee its 
implementation. 
 
¶5.  (U)  Ms. Abu Hassan's campaign to advance recognition of and 
respect for legal rights for women is not limited to Jordan and the 
Middle East.  She has worked closely with the U.S. Embassy Amman on 
judicial reform, and traveled with Jordanian judges to the U.S. on a 
number of exchange programs related to "Alternative Dispute 
Resolution Mechanism" (ADR) and "Case Management."  Additionally, 
she is a founding member and current President of the Jordan Chapter 
of the International Women's Forum (IWF), a global organization of 
preeminent women of significant and diverse achievement which is 
designed to advance women's leadership across careers, cultures, and 
continents by connecting women with each other.  She concurrently 
serves as a Director of the IWF Leadership Foundation, the IWF's 
educational and charitable arm to prepare the next generation of 
women leaders.  Through the IWF, Ms. Abu Hassan has taken her fight 
for women's rights globally and in May 2007, chaired an 
international conference in Amman of the IWF which attracted over 
600 participants, the IWF's largest gathering to date.  The 
conference, "Building Bridges, Breaking Walls," the first IWF 
meeting in the Middle East, brought together women business leaders, 
scholars, lawmakers, and nonprofit workers from 40 countries to 
discuss the role of Islam, democracy and modernization, the future 
of the Arab world and the role of Arab women, and the other 
difficult political, religious, and cultural differences currently 
challenging world leaders.  According to conference attendees, Ms. 
Abu Hassan achieved her goal of promoting greater understanding 
through engagement and open dialogue. 
 
¶6.  (U)  Through IWF, Ms. Abu Hassan also led several initiatives to 
support business and professional women working in a range of 
sectors, including banking, finance, IT, and telecom services.  Her 
particular interest in supporting professional and career 
advancement of women working in the judicial and legal sector 
inspired her to advocate for the establishment of the Arab Women 
Legal Network (AWLN) in 2005.  The mandate and vision established 
for AWLN includes a particular focus on the empowerment, 
encouragement, and professional development of female lawyers and 
judges. 
 
¶7.  (U)  Despite her unfailing efforts, Ms. Abu Hassan has only been 
recognized once for her commitment to women's rights.  In 2003, she 
shared in the award of the UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights 
which was bestowed on the Legal Committee of the Human Rights 
Advocacy Project of the Family Protection Unit. 
 
¶8.  (U)  Ms. Abu Hassan received an LL.B. from the University of 
Jordan in 1985, and an LL.M from the University of London, London 
School of Economics in 1986, where she focused on international 
economic law; international arbitration; commercial law of the 
Middle East; and multinational enterprises and the Law.  She also 
spent a year (1987-1988) as a visiting researcher on the law of 
evidence at Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
Ms. Abu Hassan is married to Thamer Obeidat, a Jordanian attorney, 
and is a mother of two children: Sara (17) and Ahmad (11). 
 
¶9.  (U)  Biodata: 
 
Full Name: Reem Mamdouh Abu Hassan 
Job Title: President -International women's Forum /Jordan 
Date of Birth: November 16, 1963 
Place of Birth: Amman, Jordan 
Nationality: Jordanian 
Address: Fifth Circle - Zahran Street - Jabari Building - 2nd floor 
Telephone: 962-554-0794 and 962-554-0694 
Passport Number: I 752111 
Email:  president@iwf-jordan.com 
 
¶10.  (U)  Ms. Abu Hassan has been informed of the nomination. 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman 
 
HALE